A short walk through the TUKS Campus - my Alma Mater

My youngest daughter is a 3rd year drama student at the University of Pretoria. Last weekend she had a dance exam and invited me to come and have a look. Long before she was born I was also a student at TUKS, as the University of Pretoria is usually called.

After the dance performance I walked back to my car and took a few snaps of the campus as I was trying to find my car...I got a bit lost and made use of the opportunity to explore the campus with my camera.....

a Short walk in the Bushveld

Last weekend I joined my friends for a short break in the Bushveld on the farm Hermanusdoorn. Autumn is here and the veld is starting to prepare for winter. The Bushveld around Vaalwater in the Limpopo Province is particularly beautiful and has the added advantage of being malaria free. 

A short walk in Orange Grove...

Yesterday I visited an Italian delicatessen and grocery shop in Louis Botha Avenue, Orange Grove, Johannesburg. My mission was to buy some of those little red Italian cold drinks that look and tate a bit like Campari, but without the alcohol. There are many brands that sell these cold drinks but the one I am familiar with is called 'Crodo Bitters'. 

Super Sconto sells important Italian food and drinks and to tell the truth they have as large a selection of Italian delicatessen & food as I have seen anywhere on my recent holiday in Italy...

After my shopping I took a short walk up and  down Louis Botha avenue to take some photographs. 

B&W 'Platteland' Structures

In December of 2014 my wife, Cheryl and I went on our annual photographic journey through the 'platteland' of South Africa. For a change we skipped the Karoo and instead decided to travel around our Southern border with landlocked Lesotho.

Our first stop was at Zastron and then we drove to Barkly East via Lady Grey. From there we drove to Matatiele and then on to the Sani Pass and finally Nottingham road. All and all we were on the road for seven days.



Barkly East, 2014

My usual goal on these photographic journeys is to make photographs of the people and the structures of the rural towns and villages. 

In this post I want to dwell on my B&W architectural images and how they were made and also the 'old' outdated camera I used....

Some of my favourite Eos M Pictures

The Eos M received a lukewarm reception at launch...mostly because of the pedestrian AF speed. A firmware update did improve the AF but it is nowhere near the speeds one can get from some of the other camera brands.

Last year with a price drop interest suddenly picked up. I even bought a black one for myself with the fixed 22mm lens and EF lens adapter. This year I added a white paired with the standard IS zoom lens...I didn't really want another camera but I got the whole package for the same price as the lens alone would have been...

Swakopmund, Namibia 2014

Recently there has been some rumors of a new Eos M camera. I certainly hope that my 'dream' mirror less might be announced although I am not crossing my fingers. My dream Eos M would have a build in or add on view finder, and a  Eos 7D mk2 sensor.... 

Welcome to Strydenburg !

I don't have much to say about sleepy Strydenburg, except that on the day we were there it was very hot and dusty.  But the town is neat & clean and the people are friendly!

Welcome to Murraysburg !

Murraysburg is far from the main road to Cape Town...We drove through it on our way to Nieu Bethesda from Victoria West.

Our first impressions were rather sad as the first thing we saw as we entered town was the cemetery...

                                                           'God is love'

Eos 6D Review - Part 3 ( Homage to Tri-X with my Eos 6D )

Intelligent Life has an article in its March/April edition on Tri-X, the iconic Kodak b&w negative film. This year marks the 60th anniversary of Tri-X. The article is well worth reading and explains things from a photographers perspective, but of course we photographers must remember that the viewer knows none of what goes on behind the scenes and in the photographers mind, and can only judge what he/she sees in front of them. The viewer sees only the final product and doesn't know or care what camera was used, whether it was digital or film or if it was a modern Japanese 'plastic' camera or a German luxury metal one...

So in a moment of inspiration and homage I thought I would convert some of my very recent 'street' images from the also iconic Longstreet in Cape Town using the Tri-X filter from my Silver Efex 2, Photoshop plugin. 

Btw, the e book version of 'Intelligent Life' can be downloaded to I Pad,  available for free  from the I Store.

Eos 6D Review - Part 2 ( GPS & The Garden Route Portfolio )

Well I have had the Eos 6D for about 4 months now and I have come to really appreciate some of its unique features...and unfortunately some disappointment in others...


                                                     

Blue Is The Colour...

Yesterday I went for a walk down Steve Biko str and Voortrekker str in Pretoria North...

I wanted to test my Canon Eos 6D and Canon Ef 85mm F1.8 lens. I recently bought the Eos 6D as a replacement to my Eos 5Dmk2. A few weeks later I also got the Eos Ef 85mm f1.8 lens.   The 85mm gives subtle compression, is small not to attract too much attention and is sharp right out into the corners at medium apertures

Greylingstad...

I stopped in Greylingstad on my way to an assignment at the nearby Sasol Impumulelo mine. 

This is what I saw in the short half an hour or so . . .

       

Review: Canon Eos M & EF 40mm f2.8 STM 'pancake' lens - Part Five

My user report of the 40mm F2.8 pancake lens and the Eos M . . .

These two were made for each other...

Read part five of my review.

                                                             

My Eos M...Some Personal Photographs

I visted some friends in the small town of Mokopane. 

There was not much time for photography but I saw this young woman at the supermarket...luckily I had my Eos M with me...

Review: Eos M - Part Two

How does the Eos M handle itself in the street with some full frame lenses attached via the lens adapter?

To test all of this I drove to a street called Steve Biko road (formerly Voortrekker str) in Pretoria North . . .

Read part two of my review.

                  Eos M on steroids!  Mamiya 50mm lens and two adapters

Surreal moment in Rouxville...

Rouxville is in the Southern Freestate Province of South Africa.

We arrived there on a Sunday morning just after the end of the morning Church service. All the farmers were in their Sunday best having a chat in front of the beautiful 'klip kerk'. On the other side of the church there was loud traditional music blaring from a house with the front door wide open and no one to be seen. . .

In Full Colour and Detailed...

This past Easter weekend we went with friends to the Ebenezer Dam in Georges Valley, Magoebaskloof . . .

Smithfield in the Freestate

After a long days driving from Centurion we eventually arrived in Smithfield at about 4h30 on  a Saturday afternoon in December last year.

Smithfield is on the main route to Port Elizabeth and a popular stopover. The are numerous b&b establishments and even a few restaurants etc. We stayed in 'Rusties place' for the night and we had a very unique two bedroom apartment all to ourselves . . .

B&W Freestate Landscapes

In December 2012 my wife, Cheryl, and I went on a four day road trip through the Freestate and Eastern Cape.

We left our home in Centurion, Gauteng early the Saturday morning with the idea that we would motor without stopping until we reached Bloemfontein, the Freestate capital. From there we would take a slower drive until we reached Smithfield, where we would spend the night . . .

Nature with a Small Camera & Close up

Last weekend I joined some friends at a resort called Millstream close to Dullstroom.

I only took one camera with me,  my small Leica X1. Whilst my friends try their hand at fly fishing I try my hand at photography...I got ten 'keepers' and they got two...which they had to release...

12 minutes in Booysens

Yesterday I had to see a potential new client in Booysens, in the south of Johannesburg.

I hate to be late so I gave myself an hour and a half to get there. I stay in Centurion which is about 50 km from Johannesburg. With all the lovely 'controversial' new four lane highways I got there a good half an hour before the time. I stopped in front of the building and walked into the reception just to make sure I am at the right place...when I left the reception two minutes later I slammed my finger in the door. It was something I haven't done for twenty years or more and it was excruciatingly painful....